Hair-holding mechanisms have been well known in the prior art for thousands of years. The earliest known hair-holding systems comprised primitive clips made of animal bone and simple cloth ribbons and bows. More recently, a variety of elastic devices have become popular. Many of these devices comprise or include coarse elastic or rubber bands. These elastic devices frequently include charms, jewelry or other small ornamental objects.
Various devices have been developed to fasten hair in a ponytail, braid or a bunch. These devices typically include a fastening element to hold the hair. The decorative fastening element may comprise a ring of metal or other hard material, but is more commonly some form of an elastic band. While these devices are adequate to hold the hair of the wearer, they are frequently coarse and result in the tearing of the hair and the creation of split ends.
A number of earlier hair bands lack rubber bands and/or fastening elements in their construction. Instead, these hair bands utilize the combination of SPANDEX (polyurethane fiber) and a hard yarn--such as nylon, polyester, cotton or acrylic--to form a ring of high stretch material (i.e., a hair band).
SPANDEX can be used in different forms, including bare, air covered and/or double covered. Since bare SPANDEX is most cost effective, its use in hair bands is most prevalent. However, bare SPANDEX, because of its knitting properties, cannot be used and must always be accompanied by at least one hard yarn. While hair bands inclusive of bare SPANDEX adequately hold hair, they are less than ideal, tending: (a) to be cheap in appearance, (b) to have limited use life, and (c) to tangle in hair, for bare SPANDEX often protrudes from their construction.
A number of United States patents have issued which exemplify the use of both elastic and mechanical hair-holding devices. A popular type of fastening or wearing accessory is an endless, annular sleeve or tube of cloth having a rubber band within the sleeve that contracts the sleeve around the hair or body part and creates folds and pleats around the annulus to provide an ornamentation. Such a fastener is shown in U.S. Des. Pat. No. 292,030. The sleeve is expanded to receive a bunch of hair or an ankle or wrist, and on release contracts to secure the hair.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,671 similarly discloses a wearing accessory for use as a hair fastener accessory and includes an annular flexible sleeve of cloth surrounding an elastic band in which is provided a central pocket. U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 296,128 and 291,673 similarly disclose hair bands of this type which include a fabric overlaying an elastic band.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,386 is exemplary of mechanical hair holding devices and discloses a hair band of a flexible material, including a body, two hair retaining portions respectively attached to ends of the body and two extension plates respectively attached to the hair retaining portions. This mechanical device includes a slot for adjusting the length of the hair band using the extension plates.
While each of the above devices satisfactorily hold hair, they frequently damage the hair of the wearer, cause headaches and crimp hair. Moreover, accessories such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,758,671 are large and relatively obtrusive. Moreover, hair bands such as those that incorporate bare SPANDEX is aesthetically unappealing and get caught in the hair of the wearer.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a hair-holding band lacking bare SPANDEX-constructed rather of covered spandex. Fabric knit wholly and solely of covered SPANDEX would constitute a novel material, never before used by manufacturers of hair bands, which was more stretchable, less damaging to hair, more aesthetically appealing, and more durable than material inclusive of bare SPANDEX.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a hair holding band constructed of a novel material which was both elastic and yet gentle and non-damaging to the hair of the user.
It would further be desirable to provide a novel storage and display system for such a hair band which could both ornamentally store and hold the hair bands in an attractive system.
It is therefore an object of this present invention to provide a novel hair band material and a novel hair band constructed from the aforesaid material.
It is a further an object of the present invention to provide a novel system for storing, packaging and displaying the hair band of the present invention.
These and other objects of the present invention are more fully set forth in the following Summary and Detailed Description.